Casino table games such as craps, roulette, poker, blackjack or other card games are highly profitable to casinos, particularly because the odds associated with such gambling games favor the casino. In order to maximize the profit generated by each table, it is desirable to not only attract a large number of players to the table but to also keep the players playing at the table for an extended period of time. In essence, while a player may occasionally stop at a table to place several wagers, a casino is most likely to make a profit from a player who stays at a single table over the course of several hours because it is unlikely that such a player will be able to xe2x80x9cbeat the oddsxe2x80x9d over the long run.
Thus, casinos often add extra incentives (e.g., complimentary food and beverages) to keep players at the gaming tables for extended periods of time. However, since all casinos typically offer the same extra incentives, it is not uncommon for players to xe2x80x9ctry their luckxe2x80x9d at a number of different tables or even at a number of different casinos within a single gambling session. For example, if a player is losing money at a particular table (e.g., a blackjack table), or if the player feels that a particular table (or a particular dealer) is unlucky, that player may leave the table and, in some instances, may leave the casino altogether to gamble elsewhere. Of course, during the time that the player is surveying different tables or different casinos, that player is not gambling and the casino is not profiting from that player.
Thus, casinos not only have an interest in attracting players to their table games, they also have an interest in keeping a player at his or her seat for as long as possible. In addition to complimentary items such as beverages, which may help to keep gamblers in the casino but will not necessarily promote continuous wagering at a specific table, casinos may wish to provide an extra incentive to players who play for extended periods of time at a single table. Such an added incentive may be an auxiliary incentive game which is played simultaneously with the primary game, while not interfering with the primary game.
The auxiliary game preferably offers its own set of prizes separate from any rewards or losses which the player may experience within the primary game. Additionally, the auxiliary game preferably rewards all players who remain at the table, regardless of whether the players are winning or losing at the primary game. The auxiliary game simply provides players with an opportunity for additional rewards if the player remains at the table for a sufficient amount of time to complete or xe2x80x9cwinxe2x80x9d the auxiliary game. However, the pace of the auxiliary game is preferably much slower than the pace of the primary game so that a player must continue to play the primary game for a number of hours without interruption before being afforded an opportunity to complete or win the auxiliary game. In this manner, the auxiliary game serves its purpose of keeping players at the gaming table for long periods, even if the player may be losing money at the primary table game.
An auxiliary prize gaming system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,800 to Huard et al., the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In Huard et al., the auxiliary prize game includes random selection means for selecting at random the prize amount to be awarded, for selecting at random the matching gaming symbols or for randomly selecting a player position. The auxiliary prize may be awarded based on a player""s fulfilling of one or more eligibility conditions, such as matching and player position selection.
Another example of such an auxiliary game which is played simultaneously with blackjack as the primary game is Ten Stix 21(trademark). Ten Stix 21(trademark) is played in the same format as blackjack where all players attempt to beat the dealer""s hand without going over 21. The primary difference between Ten Stix 21(trademark) and standard blackjack is that a bonus card is substituted for one card in each deck of cards. xe2x80x9cBonus pointsxe2x80x9d may be awarded for each of the bonus cards collected by the players during the course of multiple consecutive blackjack hands. Once a player has collected a predetermined number of bonus points, the player is awarded a prize by the casino as a bonus gift. This bonus prize thus provides the added incentive for players to stay at the blackjack table, regardless of whether the player is winning or losing while playing blackjack.
The bonus cards used within Ten Stix 2(trademark) preferably replace the ten of clubs within each card deck so that, for example, a six-deck shoe of cards would contain six bonus cards but no ten of clubs. During the normal course of a blackjack hand, each bonus card carries the value of ten and can be utilized by both a player or the dealer as a ten. However, the players have the option of either keeping the bonus card and playing it as a ten or trading the bonus card into the dealer for the next card out of the shoe. If the player opts to trade in the bonus card, the player receives a bonus point toward completion of the auxiliary game. However, the bonus point does not impact the player""s current blackjack hand. Rather, upon trading in the bonus card and receiving a replacement card from the dealer, the blackjack hand continues in a normal manner. On the other hand, if the player opts to keep the bonus card, play continues normally with the bonus card being assigned a value of ten points within the player""s hand.
To prevent a player who receives the bonus card from gaining an unfair advantage over other players during the course of the blackjack hand, a player will not be allowed to trade in the bonus card if the bonus card xe2x80x9cbustsxe2x80x9d the player""s hand (i.e., if the bonus card""s ten-point value would cause the player""s hand to exceed twenty-one points). Thus, in those instances, the bonus card will automatically be accorded its ten-point value and the player will not receive a bonus point for being dealt the bonus card. Additionally, the dealer does not have the option to trade in a bonus card, and thus a bonus card dealt to the dealer will count the same as a ten card.
To complete or win the auxiliary incentive game within Ten Stix 21(trademark), a player must accumulate ten bonus points at one sitting at the same table. In essence, a player starts with zero points when he or she first sits down at a Ten Stix 21(trademark) table and receives a single bonus point for each bonus card traded in to the dealer. When the player trades in a tenth bonus card, the player completes or wins the auxiliary game and is awarded the prize by the casino.
However, the bonus points accumulated by a player over the course of a number of blackjack hands may not be carried away by the player to another table nor may the player save or carry over accumulated bonus points for use in subsequent sessions at the same table. Additionally, a first player""s bonus points may not be transferred to another player at the table or carried over to a subsequent player who takes the first player""s spot at the table. In this manner, a player is encouraged to stay at the blackjack table for extended periods of time until the player has accumulated the ten bonus points required to win the auxiliary game and thus the casino prize. In particular, the Ten Stix 21(trademark) version of blackjack tends to increase the duration of a player""s stay at the blackjack table because the player""s determination to win the bonus prize will typically increase as he or she continues to accumulate bonus points. In fact, a player may continue to play Ten Stix 21(trademark) for hours after he or she would normally have left a conventional blackjack table due to the belief that he or she will eventually win the bonus prize.
The prior Ten Stix 21(trademark) game required the dealers to physically trade a player""s bonus card for an object such as special chip known as a xe2x80x9clammer.xe2x80x9d These lammers are then displayed by each player at a designated spot on the game table next to the player""s position. Once a player accumulated ten lammers by trading in ten bonus cards in one sitting at the Ten Stix 21(trademark) table, the player then turned the lammers into the dealer and collected the bonus prize offered by the casino. Of course, as noted above, a player was not allowed to transfer or trade the lammers to other players at the table, nor was a player allowed to take the lammers if the player left the table prior to accumulating ten lammers and claiming the bonus prize.
However, due to the tangible nature of the lammers, it was often difficult to police the players"" conduct and enforce the above rules, particularly at a busy table where a large number of players may be entering and leaving the game. For example, a player who accumulates one or more lammers but who does not have sufficient funds to continue playing blackjack may attempt to surreptitiously transfer the lammers to another player or leave the table with the lammers in the hopes of using those lammers in a future Ten Stix 21(trademark) game. As a more specific example, a Ten Stix 21(trademark) player with less than ten lammers may decide for a number of reasons to leave the table and abandon the game. The player would then be required to return the lammers to the dealer so that they may be used with subsequent players. However, the player may attempt to pocket some of the lammers, thereby returning only the remaining lammers to the dealer. If an overworked, tired, distracted or new dealer does not remember how many lammers had been accumulated by the player, the dishonest player will not likely be revealed or exposed. The player may then keep or transfer those lammers to another player with the intention of surreptitiously adding those extra lammers to that player""s total. In essence, an unscrupulous player would count on the inability of a dealer or multiple dealers to keep track of the exact number of lammers distributed to each player over the course of a number of hours, and thus the dishonest player in the above example may only need to accumulate six or seven lammers in one, session, while using the lammers obtained from the prior session, to claim the casino""s bonus prize.
The use of the lammers to keep track of each player""s bonus points provides a number of opportunities for dishonest players to defeat the purpose of the auxiliary game (i.e., keeping players at the table for extended periods) because such players may illegally transfer or remove the lammers from the gaming table, thereby removing the incentive for such players to stay at the table. Thus, while the use of the lammers allows a conventional blackjack table to be used for a Ten Stix 21(trademark) game with little or no modifications, there is a need for improvements in controlling and scoring the auxiliary game which can be controlled on a reliable basis solely by the dealer and which are not subject to abuse by dishonest players.
It is also to the advantage of the casino to promote the play of the auxiliary game. Promoting the interest of players in playing the auxiliary game has the positive effect of also increasing the play of the primary game, as noted. One of the recognized approaches to promoting games in casinos is to draw attention and fanfare to winners of those games. Such fanfare can take the form of visual and audible announcements of the player""s success, such as by lighting displays and sounding bells, tunes and jingles to call attention to the success of the player. Playing the auxiliary game with lammers and awarding the prizes through the dealer makes it difficult to recognize the winning player and announce his or her success to the other players in the general vicinity.
It is with respect to these and other factors that the present invention has evolved.
One aspect of the present invention allows an auxiliary game to be controlled and scored on a more reliable basis. Another aspect of the improvements available from the present invention relates to assuring the casino that bonus points associated with play of the auxiliary game will be more accurately accounted for and not be surreptitiously transferred by an unscrupulous player to another game. A further aspect of the present invention relates to easing the responsibilities and duties of the dealer in a primary game, when an auxiliary game is played simultaneously with the primary game. Among other aspects of the present invention is the ability to promote the play of the auxiliary game, and indirectly promote the play of the primary game, by creating public displays and recognition associated with awarding prizes to the winners of the auxiliary game.
The auxiliary game according to the invention rewards players"" loyalty or fidelity to the principal game and/or the auxiliary game by awarding prizes or pay outs once a player has accumulated a predetermined number of bonus points. Such points may be awarded in addition to other prizes in the auxiliary game. For example, the auxiliary game may offer a chance to win a number of prizes and may include a relatively large prize amount. The rules in the auxiliary game may stipulate that the large prize may be won based on possession of a particularly lucky combination of playing symbols, and a smaller fixed prize is awarded to the faithful player who reaches the predetermined number of bonus points. Similarly, the rules may provide for the opposite, namely smaller prizes can be won directly, while the larger pay outs in the auxiliary game may only be won upon reaching the predetermined number of bonus points. The auxiliary game may require payment to participate, thus allowing for a greater amount of prizes to be awarded. While bonus points may be awarded by receiving a special playing card or matching a playing symbol with a randomly chosen symbol (e.g. selecting a number, color, column etc. in roulette), bonus points may also be awarded by random determination, i.e. a random selector may determine if a player is to be awarded a bonus point. In the auxiliary game, it is possible that some prizes be of greater value, and such greater value may also be awarded by giving more than one bonus point to the winning player.
While the invention provides for better control over an auxiliary game requiring accumulation of bonus points as a condition to be eligible to win a prize, the invention may be configured so as to allow a player to transfer bonus points to another table or player position at a table, to receive a non-zero start up number of bonus points preferably randomly determined), and for a player position to keep the number of bonus points acquired when a player at that position continues to play without paying to participate to in the auxiliary game or when the player is replaced by a new player. When configured in this way, there may be a greater incentive to start to participate in the auxiliary game.
In an auxiliary game requiring payment for participation, leaving bonus points on the player""s interface unit when a player leaves the player position does not xe2x80x9ccostxe2x80x9d the casino, since the bonus points have been directly paid for. If a player decides to leave the table, a by-stander will be enticed to fill the position and take over the bonus points. In the case that players may take bonus points with them, the bonus points may be exchanged for a single value token by the dealer, or the bonus points could be loaded onto a smart card or xe2x80x9cDallasxe2x80x9d key for unloading at the new table. The single value token can be exchanged at the new table with the dealer, who will enter tie token value at his or her console. By using single value tokens, players may not combine two tokens to gain a higher trade-in value at another table. By time-stamping the bonus points recorded on the smart card or other monetary value recording medium, the new table could refuse to accept the bonus points if more than a predetermined amount of time has elapsed, for example, the time for a meal break or the time to change tables, or even longer if desired by the casino managers. Instead of reducing the number of stored or saved bonus points to zero when a player exceeds the time limit, it would be possible to reduce the bonus points as a function of time.
As an incentive to join a table, the auxiliary game according to the invention can be configured to award a random number of bonus points. In the case that ten points are required to win a prize in the auxiliary game, the random number may be between zero and five, for example, with a distribution selected by the casino management to be enticing while still profitable to the house. In the latter case, a player, who had little intention of staying at a table long enough to accumulate the desired number of bonus points to win a prize, may be enticed to remain at the casino table to see the benefit of his initial luck in obtaining a relative large number of bonus points.
According to the invention, a player is eligible to win a prize when the predetermined number of bonus points is reached. The auxiliary game according to the invention need not directly and automatically award a prize of fixed or random value when the predetermined number of bonus points is reached. For example, having reached the predetermined number of bonus points may simply make the player eligible to win an enhanced amount of a regular prize or pay out (e.g. double the prize or pay out) either in the principal game or in the auxiliary game. In such a regular pay out or prize multiplier or enhancement configuration, the number of bonus points required to be eligible could also be reduced, for example to five points, and the number of bonus points could be reset when the next one or two bonus points is won. The excitement would thus be increased when the predetermined number of bonus points is reached because the player will be eager to win a prize which qualifies for the loyalty bonus point enhancement while actually hoping not to receive a further bonus point. Likewise, the further bonus point could cancel the enhancement eligibility and also award a smaller bonus prize.
These and other aspects of the present invention are obtained by an electronic system which controls and displays the progress of each player in playing the auxiliary incentive game simultaneously with playing the primary casino table game A bonus point display is positioned for viewing by each player for displaying the number of bonus points received by each player at the gaming table. A controller is connected to the bonus point display and has first means for causing the display to display an incremented number of bonus points received by each player as new bonus points are received by each player, and second means for causing the display to reset and to display a starting number of bonus points in response to the number of bonus points received by the associated player reaching the predetermined number of bonus points. The bonus point display is preferably provided by a player interface unit associated with each player of the primary game and positioned on the gaming table adjacent to the player of the primary game, each player interface unit including a display element to display the number of bonus points received by the associated player, the second means causing the player interface unit to reset the display element to display the starting number of bonus points. Alternatively, the bonus point display may comprises a common display mounted for easy viewing by players at the gaming table, the common display having a display element for each player. Also preferably, the display element is an array of xe2x80x98nxe2x80x99 luminous indicators, where xe2x80x98nxe2x80x99 is the predetermined number of bonus points after which a prize is awarded.
Preferably, a prize display is attached to the gaming table and the prize display includes an indication of at least one prize available to each player who accumulates the predetermined number of bonus points. The controller is connected to the prize display to control the indications of the prize display to show the prize received by each player.
Another embodiment of the invention includes a dealer interface unit connected to the controller and the player interface unit. The dealer interface unit includes dealer control elements which control the bonus points displayed on the player interface units, and which activate a prize selection control element also present on the player interface unit. Upon activation and manipulation of the prize selection control element, the player is able to select one of a plurality of different prizes available for winning the auxiliary game.
An additional embodiment of the invention involves a method of controlling and displaying each player""s progress in playing the auxiliary game. The method involves attaching the prize display to the table, indicating on the prize display a plurality of different prizes, selectively lighting the indication of each prize on the prize display, displaying on each player interface unit the number of bonus points received by the player, controlling the number of bonus points displayed on each player interface unit by the dealer manipulating dealer control elements of the dealer interface unit, activating a prize selection element on the player interface unit by the dealer manipulating the dealer control elements, randomly indexing among the different available prizes, and selecting one of the randomly indexed prizes by the player manipulating the player prize selection element.
Additional preferred features of the present invention involve randomly indexing through each of the different prizes and correlating the time instant when the prize selection control element is manipulated to determine the prize awarded; establishing lesser odds for random indexing to each of the more valuable prizes; producing audible sounds when each prize is indicated, when each prize is awarded, and when bonus points are indicated at each player interface unit; and displaying game control information to the dealer at the dealer interface unit which prompts the dealer to manipulate the dealer control elements in accordance with rules of play of the auxiliary game; among others.